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- President Donald Trump said he wasn’t trying to tank the stock market when he announced his tariffs.
- “But sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” Trump said.
- The tariffs, which will affect over 180 countries, have sparked panic in the stock market.
President Donald Trump said on Sunday that while he doesn’t want the stock market to tank, the sweeping tariffs he announced last week are needed to fix America’s trade deficits with other countries.
“I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” Trump told reporters on Sunday night.
“We have been treated so badly by other countries because we had stupid leadership that allowed this to happen,” Trump continued.
On Wednesday, Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on 185 countries. The tariffs start at a baseline rate of 10% and affect a broad slate of the US’s foes and friends, including major allies in Europe and Asia.
“April 2, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again,” Trump said in his announcement on Wednesday.
The move sparked panic in the stock market. The S&P 500 is down nearly 14% year to date, while the Nasdaq Composite is down 19% year to date.
Asia’s stock markets also opened deep in the red, with
Japan’s Nikkei 225 down 6% at 10:20 a.m. local time, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index down 8.6% at 9:35 a.m. local time.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
